Maurice Paprin, 85, developer, activist

NEW YORK -- Maurice Paprin, a real estate entrepreneur who built thousands of apartments in New York and spent decades promoting liberal causes, died Friday at a hospital in Manhattan.

He was 85 and had been injured during a fall, said Harry Zlokower, the family's publicist.

Born in the Bronx, Mr. Paprin got his start building single-family homes in the 1960s and went on to build, buy, and manage large apartment buildings and subsidized housing complexes throughout the city.

While he made his fortune in business, Mr. Paprin was busy as an activist. He protested US wars, bought newspaper advertisements calling President Clinton's impeachment an ''obscene circus," and founded a nonprofit called the Fund for New Priorities.

The group organized forums on issues ranging from Watergate and the plight of the US farmer to the ouster of President Ferdinand Marcos in the Philippines.

Mr. Paprin also served as chairman of the Business, Labor, and Community Coalition of New York, and was president of Associated Builders and Owners of Greater New York for 14 years.

He leaves his wife, Jacqueline; three sons Seth, Yale, and Frederick; a daughter, Judith; and stepsons Steven and Miles Stuchin.